HS SOFTBALL: Lady Bulldogs fall in 3 games to Richland

Len Hayward|lhayward@mrt.com

Published 4:23 pm, Saturday, May 10, 2014

Photo: Brad Tollefson

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Midland first baseman Aubrie Elliott tags out Richland's Destiny Deaton at first base during the Bulldogs' 12-11 loss against the Rebels in the UIL Softball Regional Quarterfinals on Saturday at Plains Capital Park in Lubbock. The Bulldogs lost the series 2-1 to end their playoff run. less

Midland first baseman Aubrie Elliott tags out Richland's Destiny Deaton at first base during the Bulldogs' 12-11 loss against the Rebels in the UIL Softball Regional Quarterfinals on Saturday at Plains Capital ... more

Photo: Brad Tollefson

HS SOFTBALL: Lady Bulldogs fall in 3 games to Richland

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LUBBOCK -- Midland High didn’t go quietly against Richland on Saturday afternoon, but it also couldn’t sustain the momentum it gained from winning Friday’s first game.

The Rebels found a way in the third game to outslug the Lady Bulldogs and sweep both games on Saturday, winning 7-1 and 12-11, to clinch a Class 5A regional quarterfinal series at Plains Capital Park.

In the third game of the series, the two teams combined for 32 hits along with the 23 runs and both left a total of 26 runners on base.

MHS rallied from a four-run deficit to take the lead in the series’ final game, but the Rebels scored three runs in the sixth to retake the lead and hold off MHS for the wild victory.

“You can’t say enough about how the kids fought back,” Midland High coach Shawnda Vines said. “They’ve fought back all year, and have been the underdog all year long. Nobody has believed in them all year except them.”

The Lady Bulldogs (25-10) were never in the series’ second game on Saturday afternoon, which started about 45 minutes late because of the umpires arriving late, as Richland starter Haley Freyman kept MHS off-balance much of the game in the 7-1 victory.

But in the final game, it was evident that both teams’ pitching staffs were running on fumes. Richland starter Maddie Holcomb lasted 2/3 of an inning after the Lady Bulldogs touched her for two runs, and Freyman came into the game.

But the Rebels returned the favor in the bottom of the inning with four runs coming off MHS starter Stefani Baeza as Brooke Ryan came on in the first. Ryan didn’t last through the second as Richland scored two more in the second to take a 6-2 lead.

The Rebels held the lead for the next three innings and even extended it to 9-5 but Midland High kept scoring enough runs to keep the game close.

Doing that paid off in the sixth when the Lady Bulldogs put up six runs off Freyman, including a grand slam from Brooke Ryan to give MHS an 11-9 lead. Brittany Baggett and Aubree Rowley also drove in runs as MHS sent 10 hitters to the plate.

“I was just looking for a base hit to score some runs,” said Ryan, whose only hit in the game was the home run. “We’ve done a lot to build each other up and know that we could win. Everybody was positive with each other.”

The Rebels, though, scored three runs with two outs in the bottom half of the inning as Nyka Wood and Maddie McBride each had RBI and Maddi Holcomb scored on a wild pitch for a 12-11 Richland lead.

“We just knew that we had been scoring every inning, and we knew we had to keep that up and keep going,” said MHS center fielder Lauren Oatman, who was 6-for-9 on the day and scored a run in the sixth.

Freyman gave up a one-out single to Aryn Flores in the seventh, but other than that, Midland High couldn’t mount a rally to take the lead and its season ended in the regional quarterfinals for the second straight season

MHS had 14 hits in the game as Courtney Warren was 3-for-4, while Sydney Betcher, Rowley and Leandra Lopez each had two hits in the series finale.

“We gave the other team too many opporunties at the end of the ballgame,” Vines said. “The errors that we made gave them extra opportunities and they took advantage of it. Good teams take advantage of opportunities you give them.”